Gravity Skulls
by Silvan Sagevale
Summary: Arthur gets a lead to a place that may be the Grand Central Station of weird and the best bet on finding Lewis' Ghost. Vivi is slowly regaining her memories and Lewis is Hellbent on finding them while Mystery secretly contemplated the possibility of an old "friend's" return. How will the Mystery Skulls impact the Twin's summer? Well click and find out!
1. Chapter 1

_**Gravity Skulls**_

Summary: Directly after Freaking Out Arthur finds a lead that, semi-unknown to his amnesiac friend Vivi, may lead them to the Ghost of their dearly departed friend Lewis. But unbeknownst to him that very ghost was hot on their tail and he is Hellbent on finding, in Gravity Falls, Oregon.

check out archiveofourown dot org for the Mystery Skulls story Comprehension if you want to understand Arthur's situation regarding the Cave and how Lewis' spell used to affect Vivi's memories, though not as severe. This story also takes place after Land Before Swine but before Dreamscapers.

Chapter 1: Keep It Together

"Ghuehehhuh!" Arthur Kingsmen vocalized his discomfort as a series of goosebumps raised on his skin and an awful chill ran up his spine; he looked around for moment in nervous confusion before leaning back.

"*Sigh* another lead, another haunting, another bust." Arthur grumbled despondently as he returned his attention to his laptop bringing up a map with a face plastered all over it, some of them crossed out.

Lewis…

Arthur closed the map and now looked at a photo of All three of them with the Peppers, Lewis' adopted family. They, or rather Arthur, has been looking for him for a little over a year now, or rather his ghost but have yet to find a solid lead. He thought that maybe the ghost in the Mansion was him but…nah, the "hair" was the wrong color, the style was slightly off, he wore a suit, and why would he hate Arthur enough to try and murder him? That ghost must have mistaken him for someone else.

Vivi couldn't remember a thing about what happened in the Verde Diablo Caves, or even Lewis. After what happened every memory she ever had of Lewis just Disappeared, how they met, his place in their investigation…their relationship. Docs said it was her brain trying to protect her from the trauma but Arthur knew better, he'd seen the faint pink glow coming from her eyes whenever Lewis was mentioned or when she saw a picture of Lewis and would say she saw nothing.

She has been getting better since the mishap in the Mansion, bits and pieces falling back into her mind but she could never quite remember, not REALLY. She said it was more like remembering a movie with someone that looked like her in it than actual memories. Whatever happened to her in that cave that kept Lewis away from her mind, and Arthur knew that is had to of been the man himself. He had to find Lewis' ghost so he could help her and so Arthur could apologize for letting him die.

Arthur couldn't quite remember what happened back then either, the doctors said it could be a combination of blood loss, stress, and trauma prevented his brain from forming the memories properly but what he did.

His left arm numbing as if falling asleep, the vision in his left eye going black, Lewis was falling but he couldn't catch him, Guilt, and then…

"AH!" The mechanic hissed as phantom pain surged through his robotic arm, sparks leaking out of the joints as it twitched sporadically. Pain, so much pain, where was his arm, oh god there was blood everywhere, and…a beast a giant things with six tails took his arm. Oh god, it's in the van with them!

Arthur startled himself awake again and screamed as he though he saw the beast where their dog Mystery was sitting, he threw his computer into the air without thinking in his rush to protect his prosthetic but all his accomplished was it landing on his head and tumbling out of the van in a heap.

Mystery gave Arthur a look somewhere worry and confusion. Vivi though, who had been sleeping at the time sat up groggily and gave the most tired, deadpan glare she could muster with droll slipping out of her mouth. She turned the glare toward Mystery who only gave her a nervous smile and a shrug.

Too tired to deal with anything right now (it's 2 in the frickin' morning!) Vivi yawned and fell back to sleep…and was now hanging halfway out the back of the van.

World's greatest Paranormal Investigators everybody.

Groaning Arthur picked himself up as well as the laptop, that wolf-fox-thing has been plaguing his dreams for a while now. Not as bad as when he first woke up from the Cave Incident but every other week he'd see it.

"You okay Art?" Mystery asked curiously with a tilt of his head, the tiny yellow glasses on his snout going ever so slightly crooked.

Yup, their cute little doggy Mystery could talk. Not many people knew this though seeing as it could freak people out, especially out here in the boonies.

"Yeah, I'm fine just…" Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes to get the tiredness out. "Just some phantom pain triggering that nightmare again, we got any coffee?"

Mystery pushed a quarter full coffee pot and a mug toward his friend.

"Any new leads on where Lewis' ghost could have ended up?"

Now fueled by day old caffeine and his resent scare Arthur reopened his laptop and checked his messages on the Mystery Skulls website. He began scrolling through the new ones.

"Hoax, hoax, hoax, some guy accusing us of ripping our name off from a band, another Cthulhu cult that doesn't understand what fiction is, hoax, hoax, ho-wait." Arthur clicked on a message titled Weirdness Central, Oregon from GothicMistress92.

 _Sometime ago I visited a town up in Oregon called Gravity Falls with my parents for some stupid ball/party thing or whatever at the Northwest manor and right away I notice some seriously weird stuff going on around the town and the surrounding forest. My town is no stranger to odd happening with it ghost problem but this town is in a league all its own. Flying eyeballs with bat wings, Minotaurs overdosing on testosterone, Gnomes, and yes even a few spirits. If your friend's ghost is anywhere that place is probably your best bet in the states, it's a magnet for the weird and creepy._

 _Good luck and happy ghost hunting!_

Along with the message were some photos of what she saw.

(3 guesses who gave this tip)

"Huh, we're not far from Oregon are we?" Mystery asked, scratching himself behind the ear with his hind leg.

"Yeah, let me see."

Arthur went to Google Maps and search for Gravity Falls, Oregon and… "Right there, we can get there by morning!" Arthur said getting excited and terrified at the same time.

"It _is_ morning Art, It's like 2:15 man. You haven't got a goodnight sleep since we started traveling again." Mystery chastised his friend, worried for his wellbeing.

"I'll sleep when we get too Gravity Falls, right now I'm too wound up on caffeine to sleep."

"Fine, but _you_ are the one that has too wake up Vivi again so she doesn't slide around in the back." The dog declared before hopping over the seats to get to his place in the middle.

"Coward." Arthur muttered disgruntledly.

"Said the pot to the kettle!" Mystery quipped over the back of the seats.

Over the a few years the Mystery Skulls have been active there were 3 rules that should never be broken without caution. 1: Never eat Lewis' personally prepared food if you enjoy having taste buds (Seriously, who snakes on GHOST PEPPERS!?). 2: Don't touch Arthur's tools without permission or risk getting bolted to a wall. And 3: Unless you are Lewis, never EVER physically touch Vivi in her sleep.

Well, he's not Lewis but Arthur was quick so maybe…

"Touch me Squire and you will need a robot jaw to go with that arm." Vivi growled sleepily as she sat herself up to glare at Arthur, though the effect was largely lost with her wild bedhead and her little mouth stretching wide open to let out a yawn.

"What's this about going to Oregon?" She asked, smacking her lips groggily and letting out a tiny "blech" as morning breath already settled in.

"Got a big lead on a place called Gravity Falls, if it is half as weird as the message said it is then we'll likely find Lewis' ghost there."

"Lewis? Who is…oh yeah, that guy I can't remember." Vivi said before she took a swig of mouthwash and spat it at the road.

"And if that doesn't motivate you here are some things the messenger claimed were there. Gnomes"

"Uh-huh?" Vivi responded suddenly more awake.

"Flying eyeballs."

"Yeah?"

"Minotuars."

"Really?"

"And spirits."

"Eeeeeh!" Vivi squealed in delight and the next thing he knew she was bouncing in the passenger seat like a toddler on a sugar rush. "Come on, what are we waiting for?" She shouted over the seat impatiently.

Arthur just shook his head with a half-hearted chuckle before closing up the back and hopping into the driver's seat.

"Gravity Falls, Oregan here we come!" The bluenette cheered as the van revved up and began its journey.

But unknown to them a storm was brewing overhead, but literally and figuratively

Lewis Pepper felt a tug in his anchor, the heart-locket that held the majority of his spectral power. Vivi was on the move thanks to the pedals of that flower that plant woman left behind he could feel where she was, or rather her general direction

Shifting gears in the semi he "commandeered" the flames in the pipes flared and he hit the gas.

"I'm coming Vivi." The revenant declared. "And when I find you, and kill that bastard we can be together again!" Mauve flames were left on the road under the ghostly wheel of the truck.

Rain began to fall and darken the already dark early morning.

It was around 6:00 A.M when they passed a sign that said "Welcome to Gravity Falls" but they hardly noticed it through heavy rain and cloud cover that made it almost looks like night. The roads were slick with rain water, the oil in the asphalt it drew out and Arthur's sleep deprivation wasn't helping any.

"Arthur, we need to pull over. I can barely see through all this rain!" Vivi exclaimed, she could swear they hydroplaned for a couple seconds on that last turn.

"I can't just stop in the middle of the road Vi, and I can't find a spot on the sides." The blond mechanic argued.

"I just know something bad is gonna…" Mystery began but it already happened.

Hidden by the rain and darkness the gang didn't see the huge pot hole in the road and Arthur ran headlong into it. With the water and road oil slickening the road it didn't take much for them to actually and without any room for doubt hydroplane and skid out of control.

All three of them grabbed on to whatever they could. "Hold on guys, I don't think I can-"

Arthur didn't get to finish as the van's front smashed into a rock and the back still had enough momentum to bash the side into the big oak tree next to it.

The next thing they all knew was blackness.

A loud crash was heard and Stan Pines jolted awake at the noise in his chair, his TV still playing bad soap operas.

"Sweet Moses what was that!?" He exclaimed as he stood up and as he did he could hear two pairs of little feet making their ways down stairs.

"Grunkle Stan did you hear that?" His great niece Mabel asked as she slid on her socked feet into the kitchen,

Her twin brother Dipper was not far behind. "It sounded like it came from the road leasing up to the Shack, I think someone might have hydroplaned crashed their car into the trees." He theorized.

Stan rubbed his head with a grunt as he began to think of what he should do. "Is Soos still here?"

Dipper answered. "Uh, yeah. He's stayed the night in that spare room we found the other week."

"Alright, me and Soos are going to go out there and see what happened." He explained while putting on a heavy raincoat and boots, he turned and pointed at the twins. "You two will wait in here and help out when we get back, I don't need you gremlins catching pneumonia out there or somethin'."

"Aw, but Grunkle Stan." Mabel whined.

"No buts, get the first-aid kit and wait for us. Soos wake up!" He called grabbing a couple of flashlights.

The rain and began to die down as Stan and Soos made their way down the dirt road, but even with that, the sunrise, and the flashlights it was still kinda murky. But eventually they found the source of that crash.

A big orange van with the logo "Mystery Skulls" plastered on the side. It was pretty banged up, the front end looked like it was half curled around a rock and the bulk was bent into a tree. It'll likely never ride again.

"You think they're okay Mr. Pines?" The handyman asked worriedly.

Stan ignored the question. "Help me get the door open Soos, if they're still alive we need to get them out of this wreck and the rain as soon as possible."

Soos took out a crowbar he brought and he wedged it into the door. With his surprising strength, weight, and Stan's old man strength they managed to pry the door open and see the three passengers inside.

In the driver's seat was a scrawny young man who couldn't be much over 20 with spiked blond hair with a tuft of black in the front, next to him was a small white dog with "hair" in a similar style but black and red and a pair of small glasses on his snout, and finally in the passenger seat a young lady that looked like she dropped in a vat of blue dye. Blue hair, blue sweater, blue scarf, blue skirt, and blue shoes. The only part of her not blue was her, now broken, dark pink spectacles and her very pale white skin.

They seemed to be alright, a few bruises and cuts here and there but nothing life threatening.

"You take the boy and his dog Soos, I'll carry the girl." Stan said as he made sure the door wouldn't slam shut on them,

"Sure thing, dude."

The two men, well one and a man-child, gathered up the three unconscious stangers. Soos had the blond guy over his shoulders while he cradled the dog and Stan held the girl bridal style to his chest.

They can search the van for any surviving property after they woke up and the rain let up.

And there is chapter 1, short buy I hope you guys liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

_**Gravity Skulls**_

Chapter 2: Welp, can't turn back now

"You think they'll be okay Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked as she observed to three strangers lying on the floor of Soos' break room.

The boy had his orange vest removed and now Soos was bandaging his injuries.

"I think so, pumpkin. Didn't seem like anything was broken." Stan said reassuringly to his niece.

"Yo dudes, check out this guy's arm!" Soos called out.

Everyone gathered around to take a look, expecting for Stan to have been wrong and it was broken, but to their surprise that was the opposite.

Instead of a normal flesh and bone left arm the guy had a stainless steel cybernetic one, and it survived the crash very well with only a few dings and scratches.

"This is like one of those sci-fi anime; you think he has an arm canon inside it?" Soos wondered out loud.

"We'll prod 'im about it later. Right now let's finish patching them up then we can get on with our day until they wake up." Stan said impatiently as he went to work on the girl.

He removed her scarf and, after making sure she had a shirt underneath, her sweater and started wrapping her up too, most of the harm was on her right side do to how they crashed but it looked like the worse he's have would be a few bruised bones.

Amazingly the dog was completely uninjured just unconscious from a likely knock on the head.

"Oh, he's so cute! And look at his little glasses!" Mabel gushed at the dog, Dipper just rolled his eyes.

"Alright, let's go ahead and get the shack ready for some early birds since we're all up anyways." Stan order as he looked at the clock, now reading 7:24 A.M and placed some blankets over them.

The twins groaned at the prospect of working so early. "Oh come on Grunkle Stan, we haven't even had breakfast yet!" Dipper complained.

"Quit your bellyachin' we're out of breakfast stuff anyways until we get groceries, which won't be 'til AFTER the morning shift." Stan said as he headed for his room to change for the day. "So it's dry toast for everyone today, so come on, hut too it!"

Stan shooed the kids to their room before he fully passed them while Soos went back to his break room change into a spare "uniform" he had in there.

Once he was sure he was alone, Stan took a glance at the three unconscious strangers and remembered what was plastered on the side of their van. "Mystery Skulls, what are they doin' here?" a grumbled quietly before heading into his room

-Gravity Skulls-

Vivi let out a small, mousy groan as she began to regain consciousness. Right away she could feel something was off. She was laying on a carpeted floor instead of the back of the van or in the seats.

She opened her eyes and saw she was in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar house. Slowly she sat up and as the blanket that was draped over her slid off she notice that her scarf, glasses and sweater were removed and several ace bandages were wrapped around her arms and she felt and band aid on her cheek.

"What happened?" she wondered aloud as she looked around. She spotted Mystery and Arthur to her left, knocked out and Arthur just as patched up as her. "Guys-Ah!" She started to move toward them but she felt ribs twinge and she had to stop herself, turning to torso to much hurt.

"Ouch."

She heard her friends groan and she turn back toward them to see Mystery and Arthur sitting up, the human of the two clutching his flesh hand over his eyes to block out the evil daylight.

"Did somebody get the number of that pothole?" Arthur jokes dryly.

Now Vivi remembered, they slide off and crashed.

She heard a gasp behind her and turned her head just in time to see the face of a young girl with big, bright, braces filled smile in her face. "You're finally awake! You've been out for hours!" She said cheerily as she gestured toward the clock that now read 6:38 P.M.

Vivi leaned back a bit to gain some distance and a better look at the strange and chipper girl. "Um…who are you?" She asked and looked over to her friends for help who just shrugged in confusion.

Before she could get an answer another kid came into the room, flipping through a book of some kind. He looked up about to speak but paused when he saw Vivi awake and the girl leaning in too close for comfort. "You do remember what personal space is, right?" He asked the girl rhetorically as he put the book in a pocket on the inside of his vest, one very similar to Arthur's but dark blue and lacking any pins or stickers.

Deciding to ignore the question the girl instead back away from Vivi and pointed at herself with her thumb. "I'm Mabel Pines!" She introduced herself and then pulled the boy over into a side hug, which the boy reluctantly returned. "And this is my twin brother Dipper!"

"Hey." Dipper greeted awkwardly with a wave, his voice cracking slightly from the beginnings of puberty.

"Well um, I'm Vivian Li, but everyone just calls me Vivi." Vivi introduced herself and then pointed at her friends. "The blond guy is my friend and Arthur Kingsmen and that's my dog Mystery. Where are we?" She asked gesturing to the room.

"The Mystery Shack, in Gravity Fall, Oregon." A gruff New Jersey accented voice answered for the twins. The all turned to see an aged man in his late 60s to early 70s, with broad shoulders. We was wearing a red fez with a golden Pac-Man fish on it, a pair of square glasses, and a black business suit with a ribbon tie.

"Tourists dry up already Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked with a knowing lopsided smile.

"Eh." The old man verbally shrugged before returning his attention to Vivi and her friends. "Your van hit a boulder not too from my house, so me and my handy man Soos dragged you into the Shack to patch you up. You were lucky too, from how banged up the van looks it you could have ended up with much worse than some cuts and bruises."

"What!?" Arthur cried, grabbing his head in horror. "No, not my baby! How bad is it!?"

"Your van spun out in just the right way to crush the front into that rock and then slam the side into the tree next to it, it's actually partly bent around the trunk." Dipper explained, having checked the wreck out with Mabel a little while ago.

The blond investigator grabbed his face and fell back into his spot. Muffled screams could be heard. "I spent months working on that junker with Uncle Lance, got it running better than the day it was built and now all of that effort gone down the crapper." He whined.

"Yeah, well. Whenever you're ready Soos and the gremlins can show you to the wreck and you can salvage what's left." Stan offered dismissively and as if summoned by his name a large, goffer looking man with a cap and a "?" shirt walked in.

"Oh dudes, you're finally awake, huh?" He asked rhetorically. He walked into the room and handed the trio their clothes. "Sorry dudes, had to take off some of your clothes ta wrap ya up good. I decided to wash 'em while you were out." He handed Vivi her sweater and purple/pink half glasses, Arthur his vest and replaced Mystery's glasses on his snout.

"Why'd ya bother? The rest of their outfits are still dirty, waste of water and detergent!" Stan complained at the "waste" of his money.

"Soos, was it?" Vivi asked as she slipped her sweater and scarf on and replaced her glasses, aw the left lens was cracked. "We appreciate it anyways, and thank you all for looking out for us." She beamed them a billion watt smile.

Stan was about to tell her and her friends to just hurry up but at the adorable smile he let it go and just shrugged dismissively while Soos and the Twins returned the smile.

"Yeah man, you knows what woulda happened if we were stuck in the van during that storm." Arthur added his own gratitude as he straightened out his vest.

Mystery hopped up and leaned against Soos' leg, his short tail wagging back and forth wildly.

"Aw, no problem dudes." Soos leaned over and rubbed the spot between Mystery's ears, getting an appreciative whine from the dog. "Whoa, you got some funky hair little guy."

"So Do you know hotels we can stay in until we fix or replace our van?" Vivi asked as she began to stand up and stretch to relieve the tiredness and aches in her muscles.

She got her answer from Stan.

"Gravity Falls is a small town and there or a few hotels and motels scattered around the place. Not only that but it still the beginning of summer and tourist come and go all the time to check out my attractions and the rest of the town. So you probably won't find any vacancies and the managers will likely brush you off for the tourists."

"So we're stuck in our wreck of a van or a tent in the woods if they survived? Great." Arthur groused.

"Grunkle Stan why don't we let them stay in the Mystery Shack?" Mabel proposed excitedly.

"No." Stan said bluntly.

"Huh, why not!? We can't just leave them out in the woods after we already saved them from the storm!"

"The Mystery Shack isn't a boarding Mabel, I have to run a business here and I don't give charity!"

The Skulls turned their heads back and forth as the two argued and Dipper joined in siding with his sister and Soos tried to placate the situation. Vivi can't say she wasn't annoyed at the business man's greedy explanation but she could see what he meant and he and Soos probably saved their lives early this morning.

So, as all ways, she came up with a plan and she whispered it to Mystery and Arthur who nodded in agreement.

"Excuse me, Mr. Pines?" Vivi called out and managed to get them to stop bickering to pay her attention.

"We are between cases at the moment, so we don't have much money to spare, but if you have room we are willing to work it." Vivi offered.

"I dunno, you don't look like much. What can you do besides work the register?" Stan asked with interest.

"Well, Arthur here is a brilliant mechanic and engineer. He can help Soos out with maintenance and might even get whatever machines you have running better than the day they were built."

Arthur wasn't sure if he should look bashful and puff out his chest with pride at the petite blue girl's praises.

"As for me I can also clean up around the place, work the register, and I have extensive knowledge on the occult and paranormal. I can help you build new attractions and may even have a few pieces in the van I can part with."

"Other than a space or two for us to sleep in, we'd be working for free." Arthur added.

"Alright fine, you've convinced me. Let's go see what survived the crash and I'll see if there is a storage room or something we clear out."

"Mr. Pines they can stay here in my break room. I don't use it that much anway." Soos offered.

"Fine, whatever less work for me. Let's go already!" Stan said impatiently, exiting the room and heading outside and was quickly followed by Soos, the twins, and the Skulls.

-GS-

"So what happened to your arm?" Mabel asked Arthur bluntly, all sense of subtly utterly forgotten to her at the moment.

"Really Mabel? That is the first thing you ask?" Her brother reproached her.

"It's fine, I get that question a lot believe it or not." Arthur replied with a dismissive wave of his left hand. "The short answer is I don't entirely know. There was an accident in a cave and…something big bit it off."

No one noticed Mystery tense up.

"It was hard the first few weeks, I was a lefty after all, but eventually I got used to using my right hand and I built this prosthetic. Now I'm ambidextrous."

"What was the thing that attacked you?" Dipper asked with interest.

"My memory is pretty fuzzy, blood loss will do that to ya. But I think it was a black fox, a BIG one, like Grizzly Bear big and it had six tails."

"Your brain was starved. There are no such things as giant six-tailed foxes, monsters or ghosts." Stan grunted irritably.

Dipper was about to argue but Vivi beat him too it. "I know for a fact that ghosts exist!" She exclaimed while pointing at the older man in a dramatic fashion. "We've been licensed paranormal investigators for about three years and we've come across werewolves, specters, trolls, and more."

"Paranormal Investigators? You mean like the Ghost Harassers!?" Dipper got an excited look in his eyes, real professional are here in Gravity Falls, he'd have to show them the journal later!

A look of pure and utter disgust came to Vivi's face, like she swallowed a fly. "Oh no…" Arthur lamented with a chuckle while covering his eyes.

"Those washed up, money grubbing, two-bit sellout!? No we are nothing like them! WE actually find the real anomalies and WE care about the work more than some brand deal! They just go into old empty houses and pretend they get freaked out!"

"Word to the wise." Arthur said leaning in to whisper to Dipper as her rant began to peter out. "Don't mention TV paranormal investigators around Vi, it's a touchy subject for her."

"I heard that Squire!"

"Heard what?"

Vivi gave Arthur a mock glare before continuing. "Point being, we've seen enough evidence to say with absolute certainty that ghost and such exist."

"Care to give an example?" Stan replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Well about a week ago our Van broke down right in front of an old manor. We could hear music inside and when we entered a purple flame floated through the air and lit all of the candles and a bunch of purple ghost showed up and started singing, they chased us into hall where a suit of armor nearly cut Mystery's head off, and the painting came to life and sent us down a trap door!" Vivi excitement as she recounted the manor kept rising as they walked.

Arthur decided to take over. "Somehow I ended up falling faster than Vivi and Mystery and ended up in a tomb where I met the master ghost of the house. He looked like a skeleton with a suit that had his ribs laid over the sides, but his skull had no jaw and just floated over the neck hole, and over where a heart should be was a golden heart that pulsed to the beat of the music. Said he hated me for some reason, summoned a pink pompadour made of fire and then chased us all over the manor!"

"He managed the corner Arthur and was about to kill him but I got in the way. I though he was going to kill or phase through me or something but he stopped." Vivi took over again and her voice became subdued as she told the last few moments of the encounter. "He gave me this sad nostalgic look, like he knew me. He tried to give me that heart, it was a locket, but Arthur grabbed me and we ran off, the ghost was so angry he was screaming and a wall of pink fire was chasing us, but we got out in time and managed to drive away. The last thing we saw of the ghost was the manor fading away until there was nothing left but an empty lot."

She looked down as they continued to walk down the dirt road. "The thing is, I could swear I knew him too, and I think I saw him watching us through a window as we left." No one noticed her eyes glow a very faint pink. Enough to block the memory that was trying to resurface but not forget it completely like it used too.

"Ohmygosh that is so romantic!" Mabel said giddily, practically skipping now.

"Why did the ghost try to attack you?" Dipper inquired.

"Who knows?" Arthur replied with a shrug. "Most ghosts lose their rationality when they died, being ruled by their emotions. It could be we reminded him of someone he knew in life, someone he hated and it made him snap."

"But that is only true for lower level specters Artie. A spirit as powerful as this one would have to have full control over its faculties to be able to conjure a building, control other ghosts, and have that much power over flame." Vivi argued. "That ghost had to of been a Revenant or a Poltergeist to do what it did."

'Wow, these guys really do seem to know more than the Ghost Harassers!' Dipper thought to himself with a big smile.

"Ugh, enough already!" Stan barked. "I don't what you say you saw, unless I see it with my own eyes I won't believe for a second that your ghosts and goblins exist!"

Everyone decided to drop the subject for now and the rest of the walk went on in silence.

Until they finally found the van.

"Oh no, it's worse than I thought!" Arthur ran over to the van, checking it over. "The engine block is broken, the drive shaft is broken, the frame is bent like a boomerang, oh…oh god how do you even DO that!?"

The man cried with comedic drama over the loss of his van.

Vivi patted his back reassuringly. "Hey its fine, we can get a new van once we make some more money off some cases." She was trying to stay positive but she was just a bummed as her friend at the loss of their beloved van.

The group later returned to the Shack with what survived in the van. Luckily nothing super important or irreplaceable was destroyed, Vivi's ghost busting gear and Arthur's laptop and tools help up well despite everything

After setting everything up Soos' break room the gang had met Wendy Corduroy the main cashier of the place and hit it off well enough. It was now nearing 9 P.M so everyone decided to turn in a bit early today.

Tomorrow would be the beginning of a not so new life for the Mystery Skulls.

-GS-

Kind of a nothing chapter, and a bit rushed if I'm to be honest but I wanted to get introductions and their settling in of the Shack over with so I can get to the meat of the story.

See ya in Chapter 3!


	3. Chapter 3

_**Gravity Skulls**_

A/N: Slight adjustment to the setting of this fic, it's now taking place AFTER Gideon Rises but before the zombie incident.

Chapter 3: Back to Business

It has been a few days since the Mystery Skulls arrive in Gravity Falls and in that week they have integrated very well with the rest of the crew in the shack. With Arthur's help Soos was able to repair the damage from Gideon's rampage to better than new, the machines and such running like clockwork. Even the electric was running better and cut Stan's power bill in half and Stan creepy old prospector machine Goldie was working and no longer gave small children night terrors.

And with Vivi's help Stan was racking in more cash from more tourists than ever. With the artifacts she was willing to part with and her stories about them she and Stan were able to enrapture audiences and the dough just came pouring out like this were a bakery.

As for Mystery, at first Stan was adamant that the dog stay outside and watch for tax collectors. But as Mystery showed he was much smarter than the average dog (without revealing is ability to talk), a bit of puppy eyes charm, and a pinch of kitsune magic (not that anyone knew he was one) the Skulls were able to convince him to allow the Waddles privileges.

Today had been the gran re-opening of the Shack but they've hit an appreciated slow spell today so everyone was pretty much just hanging out more than working, waiting for someone to show up, and tonight there will be a party celebrating the re-opening.

Vivi and Dipper were sitting/standing at one side of the counter, Wendy, Arthur, and Mabel were at the other near the register, and Soos was sweeping around shop. Stan had disappeared again to who know where.

"So, does your robot arm have any cool mods in it?" Wendy asked the blond mechanic who was tinkering with a loose screw.

"Yeah does is like, a Gatling gun or lasers in it?" Mabel pitched in bouncing excitedly on a stool she was sitting on excitedly.

Arthur chuckled nervously. "No nothing like that, if I jam to much junk into it it'd be to heavy and probably pop out of the socket…that would hurt a LOT." He replied. "But there are a few small things in it." It took out the prosthetic's index finger and took the tip off revealing. "I have a flash drive in the finger to back up files on." He replaced the cap. "And I recently installed an electric stun pack into so I have a taser punch now."

"Cool!" Mabel gushed.

"Yeah, but it ain't much use against ghost…and I've yet to use it since I more flight than fight." He responded embarrassedly.

"Keep trying Squire, you'll get knighted sooner or later." Vivi called over with an encouraging smile. She noticed Dipper was leafing through a journal, she has noticed him doing so almost all week and she decided to finally ask about it. "Hey star child, what up with that book?" She asked.

Dipper looked at Vivi with a confused expression. "Star Child? What?"

"Your forehead has birthmark shaped like the Big Dipper constellation, your name, a nickname I'm guessing, is Dipper." She explained. "And since Constellations are typically made up of stars I'm calling you Star Child. Or should I go with Pine Tree because of the hat?" She ended with a teasing note, dipping the bill of the cap down playfully.

Vivi always did love kids.

Dipper fixed his hat with a nervous chuckle. "Star Child is fine, but how did you know about my birthmark, I keep it hidden under my hair."

"Psychic powers." Vivi replied mysteriously, wiggling her fingers and eyebrows.

"Your sister told us when we asked her if that was your real name." Arthur deadpanned, earning a halfhearted punch in the chest from Mabel.

"You're no fun." The bluenette grumbled, sticking her tongue out at the blond before deciding to get back to the previous subject. "But we're not talking about your name we're talking about that book."

"Actually I've wanted to show this to you guys since you told us you were paranormal investigators." Dipper explained as it handed her the journal. "I found this shortly after we moved in with our Grunkle Stan; it's a Journal/Bestiary that has info on all the weirdness that has been happening in Gravity Falls."

Vivi leafed through a few pages, everything that messenger said was here and more was recorded in this journal. Eye-Bats, Manotaurs, Gnomes, ect. "All of these things hang around Gravity Falls?"

"Yup, first day we were here I was almost forced to marry a thousand gnomes before Dippin' Dots saved me." Mabel exclaimed.

"And the Manotaurs put me through Manliness Training but I "failed" when I refused to murder the Multi-Bear for them." Dipper added.

Vivi saw the page for the Multi-Bear and a hastily written note that looked to have been recently added. Addendum: Nice guy, likes Disco Girl by Baba.

"And then there was Gideon that little troll doll had a magic bolo tie that gave him psychokinesis" Dipper added another bit of weirdness to their list.

"Oh yeah, _him."_ Mabel nearly spat the word. "Crazy kid had a crush on me, pressured me into dating him and nearly _killed_ my brother after I asked him to break up with him for me!"

"Sheesh, and I thought we got it weird and dangerous." Vivi commented.

"Have you come across any ghosts around here?" Arthur asked with a hidden underlying tone of desperation in his voice.

"Yeah actually, there's this elderly couple haunting the old abandoned 24/7 at the end of town." Mabel replied with no hesitation.

"We do not speak of that place Mabel…ever." Dipper said warningly.

Vivi leafed through the book some more and found a section devoted to specters. "Huh, the spirit that attacked us in that ghost manor was definitely a category 10, whoever wrote this really knew their stuff."

She found a picture of a human with little to no skin, revealing a skeleton with flowing eyes and a mane of hair made of fire, a beard as well. It was a dead ringer for the type of ghost that attacked them.

 _Category 10: Sub-Type-Revenant: A vengeful spirit that often appears skeletal or with hair made of flames, usually both. It manifests when the deceased has a deep desire to exact vengeance against those the wronged them in life. They are among the most powerful forms of ghosts having retained all of their memories and cognitive faculties through death and having a good handle on their emotions. Their eyes glow with an intense light when near the object of their ire._

She read this silently too herself and something accrued to her. _'But why would a revenant be after us? We've never killed anyone, and none of the fakes we revealed have died or sworn vengeance on us.'_

A slight pink tint dusted her eyes and a minor headache began to form as she thought about it but she was able to mostly ignore it. She handed the book back to Dipper and said. "Keep that book close Dipper, I got a feeling that thing is more important than any of us realize."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Dipper agreed as he placed the book in a pocket inside his vest. "And I'm glad _somebody_ besides Mabel, Myself, Wendy and Soos believes in this stuff. I showed the journal to Grunkle Stan and he still doesn't believe that anything supernatural exists!"

"I know the feelin' little man." Vivi said sympathetically as she playfully rustled the younger investigator's hat. "I've been interested in this stuff my whole life and no one, not even Arthur believed me until…" She trailed off as she took a glance at Mystery who discreetly shrugged.

Noticing the lull in the conversation Dipper ventured to ask. "Until what, Vivi?"

"Well…um…" She looked toward Mabel, Wendy and Soos, and then back at Dipper. "You guys can keep a secret, right"

"Of course!" Dipper replied excitedly.

"My mouth in a steel trap for secrets!" Mabel declared.

"No problem dude, I keep secretes for Mr. Pines all the time. Like how he keeps his unpaid traffic tickets in his mattress." Soos assured obviously.

Wendy just shrugged nonchalantly, making a zipping motion across her lips before throwing away an imaginary key.

"Well, it wasn't until Mystery showed up that everyone in my town belived in the supernatural and my parents finally let me start Mystery Skulls."

"Wait, your dog?" Dipper asked incredulously, sure the Mystery had funky hair and wore glasses but he seemed like an ordinary dog to-

"I prefer Canine-American thank you very much." Mystery piped up with a joking tone.

Everyone sans Arthur and Vivi stared at the dog with wide eyes, their mouths dropping agape.

Arthur looked at Vivi with a half-smile and a cocked eyebrow before he raised a mechanical hand and began to countdown.

3

2

1…

-Gravity Skulls-

A black semi with pink skull motifs and flaming pipes roared down the road, passing by a sign that read.

"Gravity Falls, hm?" Lewis read aloud to himself, the petals to the blue flower within his locket pulled him toward this town so she must be here somewhere, Vivi the love of his life and afterlife, with _him_ , Arthur his "best friend", his murderer.

But as he was nearing a split in the road that lead into the woods surrounding the sleepy little town he saw something that made his locket anchor stop beating.

The van, the Mystery Skulls van was wrecked. Smashed and twisted into a rock and a tree.

Slamming on the breaks Lewis screeched to a halt, the truck nearly jackknifing on the slick road and luckily no one else was driving this way.

Before exiting though Lewis concentrated, his anchor glowing a soft gold briefly before vanishing into his chest as his glamour took effect. No longer did he resemble a skeleton but instead the young man he was before death. Though his hair was still the same bright magenta color it was as a skele-ghost and his eyes remained black with glowing magenta irises.

After that he burst out of the truck and flew toward the wrecked remains of the beloved van his friends traveled the country in, busting mysteries and monsters alike.

"Oh god, Oh no, nononononono!" He stammered worriedly, near hysterics. "I swear to god is that bastard god Vivi and Mystery killed I'll drag his soul screaming out of Hell to torture myself!" He was pissed enough at Arthur for killing him in the cave, but killing the love of his life, even by accident will insure NO salvation!

Searching the care the specter was relieved to find no bodies and very little blood, definitely not enough to worry about any of them bleeding to death.

"Good, Viv and Mystery are okay, and I can still make Arthur pay for what he did." He stated to himself and then he noticed something. Curious Lewis decided to rummage through what was left of their stuff.

A lot of it he recognized from when he was alive, some of the stuff was newer. Vivi exorcism equipment, some of her sweaters, her copy of Silent Hill and her guitar, now broken. Mystery's dog treats, Japanese memorabilia, and now busted copy of Okami.

But the most interesting thing Lewis found was on his and Arthur's side of the van. There was a torn up box that held some of his old stuff with "Property of Lewis" stenciled on the side, sweaters vests and neckerchiefs, a stuffed alpaca Vivi gave him on their second date, and pictures of all of them together, back in happier times. Why would Arthur keep his stuff and not get rid of it?

But Arthur's stuff was even more interesting. Tools and spare parts that resembled arms, Some tools that looked like it came straight outta Ghostbusters, ghost detectors?

Strange, Arthur never kept equipment like this before, preferring to avoid ghost and rather than confront them. Why would he keep ghost searching equipment now?

Finding to other objects of interest inside the nearly imploded van Lewis exited it and noticed a series of footprints leading to and from the van, four pairs of adults, two children and a dog. The specter also felt the pedals within his anchor tug toward the large hill. Vivi was up there, and if Vivi was up there that meant Arthur was up there.

Shifting his glamour again, this time he no longer resembled his past self or the revenant he became. Now his hair was combed back and black, his suit replaced with a jacket and purple shirt and blue jeans and he conjured a pair of sunglasses to hide is eyes.

He couldn't go nuts like he did last time. Last time he went berserk and nearly killed Vivi and Mystery, on top of that there were strangers involved now, like the people that saved her and the dog from the wreckage of their beloved van.

So this time he would play it cool, he would wait for an opportunity to reveal himself and exact his vengeance against Arthur. This time he won't stop him from unsealing Vi's memories, this time he won't escape justice!

He got back into the semi and rode into town, he would find and abandoned building to set up shop in and begin making his plans.

"Did Mystery just…" Dipper began, trailing off in his astonishment.

"Talk?" Mabel finished her brother's though for him, a similar but more delighted look on her face.

"Yup!" Vivi chirped happily rubbing the spot between the dog's ears affectionately. "This little guy is how I really got into the supernatural, the occult and the just plain weird." She pointed at Arthur. "And convinced my friends and folks about it."

"Whoa…" "That's so cool, dudes!" Wendy and Soos said respectfully.

A sudden knock on the door brought the group out of their amazement and Soos went to answer it.

Two men in suits stood on the porch showing their FBI badges.

"Mr. Pines, what's the codeword for when I see federal agents again?" Soos called out worriedly.

Sorry this took so long, I haven't been writing as much as I'd like and I was also updating my other fic Pines Under the Mountain. From now on, to hopefully speed up the production of both stories I'm going to take turns writing them. Since this chapter is done I'm going to focus on the next chapter of PUtM and then when that's posted I will focus on the next chapter of this fic and I will keep going that way hopefully until one or the other is finished.


End file.
